I remember having a conversation with a Christian woman about the needy people in our area. She is a very generous person and has a wonderful heart. She talked about how they adopt a family each year at Christmas and will anonymously drop off presents on the doorstep. Sometimes they will leave bags of food on the steps or other specific needs. These are usually families that are referred through the Department of Family and Children Services which can be quite scary and intimidating. The more we talked the more I heard her fears of these types of families rubbing off on her children/family. There was a strong desire for a healthy distance to be maintained. In all these years of giving they have never made face to face contact.
I almost pictured “drive by donations” taking place. Where they open their sliding van door while still moving and thrust the bag of goods onto the porch and screech away on two wheels while saying a quick prayer. Who knows, maybe they even wore black stocking masks.
I understand it though. It’s risky loving the unlovely. You could be misunderstood by others when you get too close to the unlovely. You just might be accused of being someone you’re not. Not to mention the things you and your children could be exposed to.
But it’s what Jesus did. Think about Jesus and his reputation for a second: hung out with prostitutes, cheaters, and gamblers. He went to parties with the ungodly, on their turf. Jesus did not sit around and debate the distinctives of the faith all day long with the disciples nor did he just pray for the least and lost all day long. He got in the middle of them and got to know them; he loved them and he taught them truth. I don’t picture him loving and giving at arms length from what I know of him.
I love this Christian woman that does dive by give-aways because at least she’s got her family thinking of someone besides themselves. And I think there is a place for anonymous giving. What she and her family do is a great thing and they are helping another family in need.
But I wonder how it might make a difference if they walked up on that apartment door step and introduced themselves. Not for recognition but so a “next step” could be made. Maybe the next step is giving a bag of clothes and talking for a while……getting to know a tiny bit of the heart behind the name on the “needy list”.
And what if, over time, this family actually sat at their dinner table one night. Imagine what God might do through an invitation like that.We only have a little bit of time on this earth to point people to Jesus Christ. Thank God someone reached out to us in the midst of our junk so lets get to the business of getting our hands dirty and taking some risks for heaven’s sake. Literally.
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